Of Mountains and Rivers

The gatekeepers have been guarding the lonely mountain behind them all year round. All outsiders are enemies to some extent, so they are exclusive, even for the sake of the gatekeepers.

Chu Huan also carried the mysterious halo of the "Holy Book", so he stayed with the acquiescence of the gatekeeper patriarch Ruge. Many gatekeepers looked at him curiously, but due to the cold face of the patriarch, they did not dare to rush over to talk to him .

If the life of a mountain guard is simple, then the life of a gatekeeper is boring.

They are more orderly, stronger in fighting power, always in a state of readiness and unremitting readiness. Compared with half of the Liyi mountain guards who live in Taohuayuan, the gatekeepers are more like real warriors.

In the evening, Nanshan and the others carried some grain from the mountain, together with wild vegetables and ham, roughly washed and cut into pieces, and then threw them into the pot in no particular order.

The pot is the kind of big thing that can be used as a bathtub. It must be no problem to stew the whole elder Tang. Grain, vegetables, and meat are so sticky and boiled into a pot of mishmash, all kinds of ingredients are broken, rotten, and undercooked, and the love is boundlessly intertwined.

A gatekeeper immediately stood aside with a horizontal knife, picked up a handful of coarse salt, and sprinkled it on the wind-blown sand, and the staple food for the evening was ready.

Fortunately, in addition to the staple food, there are some small dishes - there are several small fires next to the cauldron, and the gatekeeper cleans up the newly captured beasts, then chops them up a few times, forks them up, and roasts them on the fire , there are also some plant roots like potatoes and sweet potatoes, which should belong to local specialties. They are dug out from the soil and thrown into the fire together with the mud without washing them. , it will reveal the flesh with burnt fragrance inside.

To put it bluntly, the gatekeeper’s daily life is quite wild—in Chu Huan’s view, “wild fun” means being so simple as to be brutal.

Unknowingly, however, Chu Huan has learned not to use his narrow point of view to measure other people's lives, and he no longer tries to figure out the meaning of the gatekeeper's existence.

Although the language between the two parties still cannot be seamlessly connected, Nanshan's perspective is subtly influencing him.

Chu Huan found that when he asked about the meaning of "living", he actually didn't expect any answer - because if someone told him that meaning was "plain and light, daily necessities", he would feel that the other party was confused, and if someone told him He has a clear, even noble goal, and he will feel that it is false.

The reason why he asked was actually just to find a philosophical foothold for himself when he was empty and confused.

Nanshan told him that everything that exists must have a reason.

Of course, this is not absolute, and there are some "existence" that are unreasonable-for example, when Chu Huan was about to find a corner to sit down in a low-key manner, a group of people headed by Bang Chui enthusiastically yelled at him: "What a bitch!" ,come here!"

Chu Huan had never wished so much that he was deaf.

Yuan Ping laughed beside him like a dog's tail flower fluttering in the wind. After laughing, he followed behind reluctantly.

Chu Huan said angrily, "Why are you following me?"

Yuan Ping spread his hands together: "Follow the fun, what a bitch, I'll have to count on your jokes to live for the rest of my life."

After hearing the first half of the sentence, Chu Huan really wanted to put the plug back into the holy spring, but when he heard the second half, he fell silent.

The words "the rest of my life" were like a sudden knife, stabbing him coldly, and the flesh and blood immediately couldn't bear it.

For the rest of his life... what will Yuan Ping do in the future?

Trapped in the cycle of life and death forever in the mountain gate?

Seeing the sudden change in his face, Yuan Ping asked in a daze, "Why does your face look like you've eaten shit again? You're moody. I've noticed that you've become more and more nervous recently."

Chu Huan remained silent, thinking that he was right.

Chu Huan sat down, no longer in the mood to fight, took a piece of rough barbecue that was handed to him, and stuffed it into his mouth mechanically, without any taste or appetite.

There was a commotion all around, with adults running around and children jumping around, chattering and shouting one after another. Suddenly, Er Tijiao, who was originally sitting on the side, shook in place as if there were nails growing under his buttocks. At first, he just shook unbearably. In the end, his face was flushed and he couldn't bear it anymore. He stood up abruptly, and ran out with his waist crossed and his legs crossed.

Bang Chui has a pair of untimely sharp eyes. He caught a glimpse of the movement of the second kick, and immediately opened his voice to advertise for him: "Hey, why are you going?"

This voice was earth-shattering and attracted everyone's attention, only to see that the second kicker kept bending at [-] degrees, and under the eyes of everyone, he stood stiffly into a fashionable statue, blushing almost I can go to the bullfight.

Er Tijiao: "I... I, my, that... that, go!"

Bangchu knew why and asked, "Which one is that?"

Chu Huan suddenly remembered that he accidentally sprayed the blood of the "mad dog" all over the young man's face.

The slut king showed a meaningful smile at the right time, and glanced at Er Tijiao's lower body.

Er Tijiao was like a rabbit that had been poked in the ass. He covered his crotch with his hands trying to hide it, and screamed strangely: "I just pee! What's wrong with pee? Why are you laughing!"

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the young man felt ashamed and indignant as if he had lost his power and humiliated the country, and ran away in short steps as if he was paralyzed.

Nanshan immediately seized this opportunity. With an innocent and unintentional face, wrapped in a deliberate core, he followed up with some ulterior motives: "If we have someone we like, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, we can meet the patriarch and Engaged under the witness of the elders."

The "marriage contract" he mentioned does not mean "an appointment to marry in the future" in Chinese, but refers to the marriage itself. The mountain guards of the Liyi tribe regard marriage as a vow that cannot be broken. Chu Huan heard him say that.

Chu Huan glanced at Nanshan, and his mood would get better, so he put aside his worries for a while, and became interested in chatting: "We can't do that, our little brats are underage, and they are still in school preparing for the college entrance examination. The Civil Affairs Bureau refused to issue a certificate, and refused to accept the settlement.”

Nanshan asked: "Then what if you meet someone you like?"

"Hold on," Chu Huan smirked, and said flickeringly, "I was found by my parents and broke my dog's legs, and my teacher found out and wrote an inspection—it is a letter of repentance for mistakes."

For the first time, Nanshan did not express curiosity about the bizarre life on the other side of the river. He felt that he had found a breakthrough, so he hurriedly asked, "Have you written an inspection?"

Chu Huan saw an opportunity to brag, and he waved his hand and said, "How is that possible? I was the standard 'male squad leader in a white shirt' at that time. Do you know what it means? It's just..."

Yuan Ping: "It's the cheapest, most fake, and best at snitching male coquette in the class."

Chu Huan picked up a bone and fired it into his face, then he seemed to remember something, and said to Nanshan: "Don't tell me, I seem to have really written a copy."

At this moment, in Nanshan's heart, "writing an inspection" seemed to be equivalent to "falling in love", and his fist hanging by his side suddenly clenched.

"Of course it wasn't because of puppy love being caught." Chu Huan slowly added the next sentence, "I used my spare time to open a ladle for a famous idiot because I was killing harm for the people..."

The bones came with a fierce wind, and there was also a strong killing intent like old and new hatred in it. Chu Huan calmly avoided turning his head, without looking at the angry Yuan Ping: "There are always people who like to pick scold."

Nanshan found that the prepared topic had already been taken away by Chu Huan, and the remedy was enough.

But today has come to this point, he really doesn't want to be devious anymore, and plans to just ask directly.

Nanshan repeated the words in his heart several times, trying to put on a relaxed state, but he always felt that he couldn't follow the law.

A person who cares to the extreme, hastily to the extreme, always seems a bit contrived, Nanshan is aware of his unnaturalness, but he has forgotten what is considered "natural".

He secretly tortured himself a lot.

When Chu Huan saw that his expression was different, he immediately wiped his hands, leaned forward and touched Nanshan's forehead: "Are you okay? Did you get hurt just now? Don't get infected."

Nanshan was turned into a frightened raccoon by his paw, and his whole body was so stiff that he couldn't move.

Chu Huan frowned, and put his palm on Nanshan's neck: "Why is the pulse beating so fast? Could it be poisoning?"

Nanshan stared blankly at his eyes, which were close at hand, and suddenly felt that he might really be poisoned.

Until the elder rescued him.

The elder sat next to the cauldron, his image blurred by the water vapor, and he tapped the side of the pot with an iron fork: "I said, Patriarch Nanshan, Patriarch Luge, I think we should talk about the business first, after we finish the business , let the brothers who are not on duty today drink some wine, okay?"

Nanshan regained consciousness and returned to his normal state. He quickly avoided Chu Huan's hand and said in a low voice, "It's okay."

He and Luge, the patriarch of the gatekeepers, came out more and more, and everyone gathered around, and the chaotic crowd and venue became well-trained and silent in an instant.

"Although the flat people and Mutai have always lived in groups," Ruger said straightforwardly without exchanging pleasantries or nonsense, "but I have never seen such a large-scale siege before, so there must be a new place nearby. , or something drove them here."

Nanshan continued: "If that's the case, we can't just stay on the mountain passively now, this time it's Mutai, what about next time?"

The elder twirled his goatee: "As usual, one or two gatekeepers will follow, and the main manpower will come from our side."

The mountain is the source of life for their two clans, so no matter what happens to the gatekeepers, they must never leave the mountain gate. Send one or two people with you.

When Yuan Ping heard this, he immediately raised his hands in fear of chaos: "I'll go! I can go!"

Chu Huan pondered for a moment: "I'll go too."

Of course Chu Huan didn't want to join in the fun.

The world is full of dangers, so it's fine if he didn't see it. Now that he has glimpsed the tip of the iceberg, he can't stand by and watch anyway. He can't see Nanshan struggling here year after year, and he can't see Yuan Ping guarding a mountain gate desperately.

He had to grasp as much information as possible, even if he was unable to take them away in the end, and was unable to realize his good wishes for Nanshan, at least he could reduce the death rate of the mountain guards... and the gatekeepers to a certain extent.

But when he responded like this, Nanshan thought wrongly.

It was not like this before Chu Huan lived in the settlement of the Liyi tribe. At that time, he didn't ask any questions and didn't care about anything. Even though he could understand some of their language, he pretended not to understand it because he was too lazy to make troubles.

Why is it suddenly active at this time?

Nanshan couldn't think of any other reason, except Yuan Ping.

But right now is not the time for the patriarch to think wildly. Nanshan quickly pulled back his sanity of running away and forcibly left it on the matter of investigating the border. Arrange all kinds of matters after I left - the mountain is an unprotected world, which is quite dangerous. Since Luge can't move, then as the patriarch of the mountain guard, Nanshan must take the lead.

The elder took a sip of the chowder soup in the bowl with a heavy heart: "I'm afraid we have to be prepared to kill all the invading enemies. This 'winter' is sad..."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Just at that moment, Er Tijiao came back from the woods with his pants in his hands, his face flushed, and he seemed to be planning to sneak into the crowd, but he was stopped by the people with malicious intentions as soon as he took a step. The men seemed to want to adjust the atmosphere, they all showed their white teeth, and laughed around Er Tijiao: "It's so fast."

The second kick kicked over, and several people scuffled together.

Nanshan exhaled foul breath, and waved at the people of the two clans: "It's over, let's serve the wine!"

Ruge shook his head: "One person on duty today is only allowed one bowl..."

This kind of spoiled person was immediately abandoned by the crowd, and the people of the two tribes rushed up, coaxing Ruge's voice into the ocean of noise, as if they wanted to sweep away the dullness just now, quite a bit like the present day. There is a way of dealing with the world when you are drunk with wine.

Er Tijiao was knocked down on the ground by several men, and he got up out of breath after a long while, but he was not angry, he tidied up his clothes silently, sat down with a bowl of wine, borrowed Covered by the wine bowl, he secretly looked at the girl sitting on the other side.

The young man didn't know how to hide it, so he was quickly spotted by those who cared about him. A new round of booing overwhelmed Er Tijiao, an unprofessional puppy love boy, so much that he wished he could find a crack in the ground.

Hearing the movement, the little girl glanced back and laughed. Er Tijiao seemed to have made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and ruthlessly drank the wine in the bowl.

Jiu Zhuang was cowardly, Er Tijiao strode towards his sweetheart amidst the booing of the crowd.

Nanshan caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and realized that he was actually being compared to that second kicker. He immediately felt so angry, drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, and turned to Chu Huan.

Chu Huan picked up the wine jar and filled it up for him, but Nan Shan didn't touch his lips.

He looked at Chu Huan with a strange gaze: "It's dangerous to visit the cave, otherwise I won't take people there myself, you know?"

Chu Huan just liked his serious appearance, and he felt his heart melt at a glance.

Nanshan pursed his lips nervously: "What if something happens to you, what will your relatives do?"

Chu Huan paused, and the smile on his face gradually faded. After a while, he lowered his eyes: "I have no relatives."

Nanshan: "Don't you have a wife?"

Chu Huan laughed at himself: "It's still in her mother's stomach."

Nanshan felt his heart jump out of his throat for a moment, he heard the sound of his arteries beating wildly, and felt a world of flowers blooming around him.

He asked, "So... that, is there?"

Chu Huan followed his gaze, and saw that Er Tijiao was talking clumsily in front of the little girl. While talking, his own face turned red first, scratching his ears and cheeks so he didn't know what to do, the little girl Although his face was also flushed, he was much more generous than him, and he was smiling very quietly.

Chu Huan couldn't help showing a smile following the youthful young man and young girl. He wanted to shake Nanshan's hand, but felt abrupt, so he stuffed his empty palm into his trouser pocket and said to Nanshan, "That—— There are many names in our place, the literary ones are 'lover' and 'lover', the ambiguous ones are 'lover', the simple ones are 'objects', and the common ones are boyfriend and girlfriend... Oh, and you like others, but others don't like you, that kind of unrequited love."

Nanshan's mind was full of muddleheadedness, so he had no choice but to worship under the Chinese language with multiple names for one thing.

"There is no object." Chu Huan took a deep look at his unrequited love, took a deep breath, and moved his gaze away without any trace, without flaws—at least in Nanshan's blinded eyes, he There is no flaw.

Then Chu Huan said: "There is one unrequited love."

Nanshan couldn't digest the news for a while.

Since it's unrequited love, then he still has a chance, which should be good news, but this "good news" really doesn't make people happy at all.

Nan Shan asked dryly, "On the other side of the river?"

Chu Huan avoided his gaze, stared at the wine in his bowl and said, after a while, a smile melted on the corner of his mouth: "It's in my palm."

It was difficult for Nanshan to understand the lingering and deep meaning in the three words "in the palm of his hand". He could only decipher the literal meaning after a daze.

Put it in the palm of your hand, isn't that a bean?

A person like a bean... that should be small and slender, right?

A bowl of cold water was poured over Nanshan's hot heart just now, he responded indiscriminately, and quietly walked away by bending over to fill the soup.

This topic was too sensitive, and Chu Huan felt a little regretful after speaking, for fear that Nanshan would see something, so he lost his mind for a while.

When he realized that Nanshan was no longer around, Chu Huan searched around worriedly, but couldn't find it, so he had to go back to the flat hillside in front of the mountain gate, drinking wine while worrying.

Then he caught sight of Yuan Ping who was being poured alcohol one after another.

Yuan Ping was poured so hard that he could hardly stand on his feet. Chu Huan stretched out his foot and kicked him, and said contemptuously, "I'll see how good you are."

Yuan Ping staggered and rushed over to hug his leg, his eyes scattered.

Chu Huan was about to kick him away when suddenly he heard Yuan Ping's ravings.

Chu Huan froze suddenly, and after a while, he squatted down slowly, grabbing Yuan Ping's shoulders with trembling hands: "What did you say?"

Yuan Ping: "Mom..."

Yuan Ping grabbed Chu Huan's skirt, dazed, almost unable to open his eyes, then he pressed himself up, rubbing his face casually between Chu Huan's chest and neck, mouth full of nonsense: "Mom, I miss you, Mom...Dad, don't be angry, um, don't be jealous, I miss you too..."

When he was sober, he asked about the job, the girl, and even the cat, but he never dared to bring up the matter.

Chu Huan slowly stretched out his arms to wrap his arms around his back, listening to him screaming "Dad" and "Mom" for a while, speechless, so he raised his eyes and looked up at the sky.

Tian has nothing to look forward to, but he is afraid that tears will fall when he lowers his head.